John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 43:6

"I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the end of the earth;" — Isaiah 43:6 (ASV)

I will say to the north. Under these four parts, he includes the whole world, which is very customary in all languages. But Isaiah speaks in somewhat loftier language than Moses because he wished the people to view the event as if it had actually occurred; and, for such a purpose, those lively descriptions which, so to speak, place it before our eyes, are perfectly suited. He might, indeed, have said it in a single word, but this manner of address is far more powerful, for he represents God as commanding, with supreme authority, all the creatures and every part of the world to set His people free.

Bring my sons. He means that not all Israel will be gathered, but only that which is the true Israel; for not all who are the descendants of Abraham according to the flesh are true Israelites, but very many of them are bastards (Romans 9:6–7). These belong to the true and lawful seed, for that vast multitude of people was not saved, but only a remnant, as we saw in a previous chapter (Isaiah 10:21–22).

A vast number of people were carried away into captivity, but few were brought back. Among them a seed was preserved; and the Lord would not allow that seed to perish, or the covenant which He had made with their fathers to be broken.

These things were very hard for the Jews to believe. They were despised by all, exposed not only to the hatred but also to the curses of almost the whole world, and were scarcely considered human. Therefore, they had to depend solely on the promises. They knew that Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1) would come, but they could not yet imagine who he was, for he had not yet been born. Consequently, they needed to be armed with strong and steadfast faith to wait for the Lord with unshaken confidence, while many considered these predictions to be fables. Let us also learn from this example to look to God alone, so that we do not doubt that He will assist us and will keep His promises at the proper time.